The NBA is pushing toward changes to the draft lottery system by next season but is facing a strong objection from thePhiladelphia 76ers, the franchise that could suffer the most from it, multiple sources told ESPN.com.

Lottery-reform measures were introduced earlier this month at league meetings in Las Vegas, and the NBA Board of Governors could vote changes into place at its preseason meeting in October. Although there are several facets and the proposals haven't been finalized, the goal of commissioner Adam Silver is to balance out the lottery odds so the worst team or teams wouldn't have the highest chances of landing the top pick, sources said.

Currently, the team with the worst record has a 25 percent chance of landing the top pick and the team with the fifth-worst record has an 8.8 percent chance of winning it. In a new format, the bottom five or six teams could have an equal chance.Grantland's Zach Lowe reported earlier this month*on the NBA's proposed changes, which are essentially an attempt to squeeze the lottery odds at either extreme toward a more balanced system in which all 14 teams have a relatively similar chance at the no. 1 pick.

Although the NBA likely would not frame the changes this way, they could be seen as an anti-tanking measure, as teams with the worst records might not earn significantly higher lottery odds.

The rough draft of this plan was met with opposition by 76ers management, which is in the midst of a multiseason rebuilding project that is dependent on a high pick next year. The 76ers, sources said, are hoping to get the NBA to delay the plan's implementation for at least a year because it would act as a de facto punishment while just playing by the rules that have been in place.

There's more than a few teams that traded away picks that they assumed had zero chance at the first overall pick. Not sure how the NBA puts this in place inside of 2018, 2019 without someone feeling fucked over. Not sure they should put it in before then either. Boston should be pretty damn happy about it though, which doesn't work for me, so screw this idea... at least until 2020.

They were in the playoffs not too long ago and then they traded away their best young player. Something about that is really disgusting to me, hope the rule does change.

Not really. They realized they wouldn't get anywhere with Jrue Holiday as their best player. Think about it. If you realized your mediocrity would never be rewarded and then decided to suck in order to be rewarded, and the NBA then decided to reward mediocrity, how would you feel?

Never mind - i don't even want to try to think how that could be true.

Maybe reward mediocrity was the wrong phrase to use, but regardless, if the NBA has a system and you have based your building/rebuilding strategy on it then they proceed to change it, it'd be infuriating. They ought to give at least one season notice on changes like this.

It'd be akin to planning out your team's salary such that you have enough cap room to sign a max free agent in the upcoming offseason, then the NBA decides to change the salary cap and you get fucked over by it.

Raptors fans in particular should sympathize, what with the no more drafting High Schoolers coming into effect just when the team gets the number one pick.

Maybe reward mediocrity was the wrong phrase to use, but regardless, if the NBA has a system and you have based your building/rebuilding strategy on it then they proceed to change it, it'd be infuriating. They ought to give at least one season notice on changes like this.

It'd be akin to planning out your team's salary such that you have enough cap room to sign a max free agent in the upcoming offseason, then the NBA decides to change the salary cap and you get fucked over by it.

Raptors fans in particular should sympathize, what with the no more drafting High Schoolers coming into effect just when the team gets the number one pick.

So when do they make the change then? There will always be a team or two at the bottom of the standings looking forward to what could be a franchise changing draft pick at no. 1. So there is going to be a team or two that feels screwed over regardless - even if they have notice of the change.

The NBA is trying to address a situation that embarrasses the league - teams intentionally losing - and they have an opportunity to do so and look good doing it by instituting it right away. Otherwise, with teams knowing about the change it could make things worse for a year or two as they take their last opportunity to tank for the better odds at the higher pick. i don't know if that would happen - but it could - and of it did the NBA would get skewered ruthlessly for allowing it to happen instead of making the change they should have immediately.

And the change for high school drafting is only 1 way the NBA screwed the Raptors over where it comes to the draft. They also changed the rules for expansion teams temporarily after Orlando got Penny and Shaq by not allowing an expansion team the no. 1 overall pick. The Raptors actually won the draft lottery but had to settle for Marcus Camby when Iverson went 1st. AI should have been a Raptor. They didn't give a year or two notice on those changes and they actually changed it back (the expansion No. 1 thing ) shortly thereafter.

So I have no sympathy for any team bitching about the proposed change. It needs to be done and those teams wouldn't blink in support of it if it wasn't them at the bottom.